Judge orders auction of luxury home
The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has ordered that a luxury home in the exclusive Lombardy Estate in Pretoria be sold at public auction after its owners failed to pay hundreds of thousands of rands in overdue levies, reports IoL.
Judge Leicester Adams ruled in favour of Lombardy Home Owners Association (HOA), granting the association a further judgment of R211 662.07 against homeowners Lillian Makgolela and Kingsley Makgolela.
The legal friction between the Lombardy HOA and the Makgolelas is not new.
The association originally secured a default judgment against the couple in March 2024 for an amount of over R333 000.
Although the homeowners attempted to legally reverse that initial judgment through a rescission application, the High Court dismissed their challenge in May 2025.
Instead of being resolved, the financial situation rapidly worsened. By August 2025, the total outstanding arrears had climbed to nearly R545 000.
In the judgment, Adams granted an additional monetary order of R211,662.07 against the co-owners to account for the new debt that has continued to accumulate since the original court battle.
Shockingly, the court noted that by April 2026, the overall levy debt on the property statement had ballooned to a staggering R681 777 32.
The court heard that while Lillian had made sporadic monthly payments between late 2025 and early 2026, those funds were only enough to cover current, ongoing estate fees.
In her defence, Lillian opposed the forced sale by producing a private valuation report that estimated her household's movable goods to be worth over R326 000.
She further argued that she maintains a well-paying job, earning a net salary of R50 000 per month, and proposed a payment plan of R5 000 per month to gradually clear what she owed.
Adams, however, dismissed these arguments as practically unviable. He noted that the private valuation represented regular market value, whereas a forced sheriff's sale would yield substantially lower returns, according to IoL.
Furthermore, the judge pointed out that the proposed R5 000 monthly payment plan was entirely unrealistic, as the property's monthly interest and accruing levies actually exceeded that amount, meaning the debt would continue to grow indefinitely.
The judge emphasised that the justice system does not allow debtors to escape legitimate court judgments indefinitely by simply claiming they will lose their house.
The court added that Lombardy HOA is a collective organisation relying entirely on member levies to maintain common property and meet its corporate obligations.
When individuals fail to pay, an unfair and unsustainable financial burden is shifted directly onto the paying members of the community.
As a result, the judge declared their 796-square-metre property executable and set a reserve price of R3.5m for its sale in execution.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
